Automatic railway-switch.



No. 846,906. PATENTED MAR. 12, 1907.

J. 1). BURKHO'LDER.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14, 1906. 2 sKEnTs sHBEr 1' WM: W I O V No.846,906. PATENTED MAR. 12, 1907; J. D. BURKHOLDER.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

'APPLIO'ATION 11mm SEPT. 14. 1906.

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JOHN D. BURKHOLDER, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 12, 1907.

Application filed September 14-, 1906. Serial No. 334,568.

To all whom it party concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN D. BURKHOLDER, a citizen of Lancaster, residingat Lancaster, in the county oi Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Railway-Switches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description 01' the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to automatic means for shifting switch-pointsoperated from cars on the rails; and it consists in the construction andcombination of parts hereinafter more particularly set forth andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a detail plan of thetrack embodying a part of my invention. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinalsection on line at as or Fig. 1, showing also a part of a car-body onthe track provided with my actuating devices. Fig. 3 represents atransverse section of the same on the line y y, the car, its levers, andsome auxiliary parts being shown in .elevation. Fig. 4 represents ahorizontal longitudinal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 2, the rods,sliding bars, some proximate parts being shown in plan. Fig. 5represents a plan view of the treadles, rods, and chains. Fig. 6represents a detail view of the pins N.

A designates a car-body, and B its wheels. Pivoted treadles C C ofbell-crank form are arranged to be operated from the front part of thecar and rise slightly above its floor, their longer arms extending downthrough Rods or wires D D extend from these arms rearward through guidesd to chains E E, which pass over pulleys F, being connected to theweighted arms of the levers G G, which are pivoted near their middlebelow the car and have vertically-sliding bars H H. on one end andcounterbalance-weights I I on the other. These bars move in guideswithin a protect ive housing K and carry at their lower ends beveledtappets L L, one of which moves the switch-point M to the right, theother to the left, as hereinafter described. Thus the pressure of thefoot of the conductor or other operator on treadle C will depress tappetL through the pull on rod D and chain E, the tilting of lever G, andvertical downward movement of bar H. IVhen his foot is removed, theweight I replaces all the other parts in their first position. In likemanner pressure on treadle C, operating corresponding parts D E H,forces down tappet L, and weight I replaces this series of parts afterremoval of pressure.

To guard against injury by sudden jars, the pivot g of each lever G or Gis mounted in vertical bearing-slots 9, formed in downward bifurcations'n of a stud or bracket N on the'under side of the car-bottom and aspring 0, surrounding said stud, bears through a collar 0 on the saidlever to hold said pivots normally in the lower ends of the saidgrooves, the said lever being free to rise between said bifurcationswhenever the upward jar or pressure exceeds the force of said spring.

The guides for bars H H berore mentioned consist of a longitudinal.partition P, within and fastened to the sides of K, and a stout plate orflat bar P in the bottom oi the said housing. Each of these plates isslotted for the passage of said bars and so is the integral bottom oithe housing. The latter, as awhole, has the shape of a truncated V andis composed, preferably, of sheet metal. The downward play of each bar Hor H is regulated by a stop block or collar P, which is adjustablyclamped thereon by screw P and will come in contact with plate P at thepredetermined limit of descent. The pivotal attachment of each bar H orH to its lever G or G is loose enough to prevent their binding. Thelower arm of each treadle C or C is provided with a vertical series ofholes 0 for the connection or the rod or wire D or D at different pointson said arm, thus varying the leverage of the treadle in a familiarmanner to take up slack in the wire or chain or allow for excessivetightening by changes or temperature or otherwise. Rods D D may bedispensed with.

The switch-point M diverts the car from track 1 to track 2 or track 3,according to the osition which is given it, as above stated. t ispivoted at the broader. end, and in line with one of the rails of track1 it is provided near its middle with a downwardly-extending stud orbolt M, passing through an opening or slot 1 in the frog It, allowingthe necessary lateral play of the said switch-point. A spring r on theunder side of the said frog draws on the pivot-bolt R of saidswitchpoint, holding it securely in place, but allowing a slight upwardyielding to prevent damage by j ar or strain. A guard-plate or integralraised oflset S surrounds this bolt and the said opening 1" to preventwater from enter- R designates the point for the other rail.

In a space if under the said frog R a pair of bent rods T T are arrangedto move lengthwise in guides t and provided with oppositely-inclinedparts X X, which, as shown, preferably overlap each other, theseinclined parts being arranged for contact with the stud M protrudingbelow the seat of the switch-point into space it and located between .1

said parts. Thus when rod T on the right is drawn rearward the contactof its inclined part X forces the stud M to the left, turning theswitch-point on its pivot to its left position, and a similar pull onrod T causes in the same way the shifting of the switch-point into itsright position by the opposite action of its inclined part X on the saidstud. The said rods T T have their rearward ends bent outward at t forconvenience in connecting them to long bars U U, running parallel andproximate to the rails of straight track 1 in suitable channels andprovided on the outside at intervals with lateral pins U, each of whichis straddled by the bifurcated lower end of a downward arm V on a shorttransverse rock-shaft w, passing through the rail, which is in line withthe point. The other end of the said shaft is provided with a raised armW, having a lateral pin w. The arms W of each side of the track arearranged in a longitudinal channel Z or Z, these two channels in onecasting with said rail. So long as the treadles C C are not depressedthe car travels along the track without producing any effect; but whentreadle C is depressed, the tappet L passes down into the channel Z andstrikes presently against one of the pins w, turning forward theupwardly- .extending arm W and correspondingly turnmg backward thedownwardlyextending arm V, so as to draw back the bar U and rod T,shifting the switch-point, as stated. Similarly the depression oftreadle C causes tappet L to act on the pin w of an arm W on the otherside of the track, drawing on bar U and rod T to shift the switch-pointin the other direction. Each shaft w and its lower arm V move as onepiece with its longer raised arm IN and lateral pin w. The pin a reventsbinding. A single set of parts w, w, V, and u on each side of the trackwould be operative, but it is better to have a series of them, since thetappet may miss one, yet attain position for the next, also because itis possible to use one treadle on the first of the series of one sideand the other treadle subsequently on another farther along in theseries of the other side, if the need should arise. The arrow-point formof the tappets prevents all risks from lowering one of them by accidentdirectly 011 one of the pins w, for one or the other of its faces mustdescend on said pin, sliding down beside the same, and merely moving itforward orbackward, with corresponding motion of attached andcorresponding parts, as hereinbefore described.

Each sliding bar U or U is provided with a replacing-spring Y, whichmoves the said bar and the attached rod T or T forward to their originalposition as soon as the pressure is withdrawn from the treadle operatingthe same. Such replacing does not affect the switch-point, which remainsas it has been turned until the depression of the other treadle turns itback again, as explained.

Of course the treadles may be placed in any part of the car or on anyother rollingstock of an electric trolley-road or ordinarysteam-railroad. The space if and channels Z Z, above described, may beprovided in any kind of wooden or metal structures suitable to thepurpose. The details of the mechanism may obviously be varied in diversways without departing from my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In automatic mechanism. for operating railway-switches, thecombination of a pair of treadles on a car with a pair ofcounterweighted levers, connections between the same and depending,loosely-connected arms carried by said levers and terminating inpointedv arrow-tappets adapted to engage and operate track devicesconnected to a switch-point for the purpose set forth.

2. In automatic mechanism for operating railway-switches, thecombination of a pair of treadles on a car with a pair of counterweighted lever connections between the same, tappet-carrying armsdepending from said levers, vertically-movable pivots for said leversand springs holding the same down in their bearings with yieldingpressure substantially as set forth.

3. In automatic mechanism for operating railway-switches, thecombination of a pair of treadles on a car with a pair ofcounterweighted levers, connections between the same, tappet-carryingarms depending from said levers, vertically-movable pivots for saidlevers, depending bifurcated studs or brackets, receiving the saidlevers between their bifurcations and the said pivots in vertical slotsof said. bifurcations, collars surrounding said studs or brackets andresting on said levers and springs bearing on said collars substantiallyas set forth.

4. In automatic mechanism, a switchpoint pivoted for lateral motion andprovided with a downwardly-extending stud, in combination with a pair ofrods on opposite sides of said stud and having inclined parts,

which are adapted to be drawn against it to move the said pointlaterally in one direction or the other, longitudinallyanovable bars,rocking devices arranged to engage and draw said rods, and located inchannels below the levels of the rails, and depending devices carried bya car and adapted to be lowered at will into said channels to engagesuch devices substantially as set forth.

5. In automatic mechanism for operating railway-switches, a switch-pointpivoted for lateral motion, in combination with a pair of longitudinalrods, having inclined parts adapted to engage an attachment or part of;said point and turn said point in one direction or the other on itspivot, devices arranged on each side of the track, adapted to be struckby depending attachments of a car and provided with connections wherebythey thereupon draw on one rod or the other to shift the saidswitch-point as stated, and replacing-springs for said devicesconnections and rods substantially as set forth.

6. In automatic mechanism for operating railway-switches, a switch-pointpivoted for lateral motion and provided with a downwardly-extendingpart, in combination with a pair of longitudinally-movable rods, havinginclined parts on each side of the same and adapted to move the saidpoint in one direction or the other on its pivot when drawn against saidpart, longitudinally-movable bars, provided at intervals with lateralstuds, transverse rock-shafts arranged at corresponding intervals andprovided with depending slotted ,ing to the tappet lowered substantiallyas set forth.

7. A pivoted switch-point having a downwardly-extending stud, incombination with a frog or seat having an opening permitting the saidstud to extend down through it and move laterally With said switchpoint,a raised plate or offset under said point, surrounding said stud andguarding said opening against the admission of water, and de vicesadapted to be actuated by a passing car, for shifting said switch-pointon its pivot from side to side substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN D. BURKHOLDER. Witnesses:

Enw. R. NEITSHU, O. C. MUTsonLER.

